What
is Babel, what happened there, and why is it so important? Many kids
don't know the answers to these questions as biblical knowledge is
becoming less and less of a priority in people's lives. This fun format
book is a great way to teach kids about the reality of the Babel story
and its significance in their lives. The full-color book explains how
the different languages and "races" came about and is in unique format
with one large pop-up that stays up as you turn the pages and read the
story. The stunning artwork is both beautiful and realistic, as it is
based on the actual worship towers that were built in ancient times.
This fun tool is a great way to teach the reality of the biblical story.
Recommended for ages 8 and up.

Just 24 words in this Hear Me Read Bible story. These words are repeated
again and again to help your child develop a sight vocabulary and take
pride in a growing ability to recognize words. The author, Mary Manz
Simon, has a doctoral degree in education with a specialty in early
childhood education.

Our lesson begins with the time when everyone on earth spoke the
same language. But something happened to change all of that. Today we have many
different kinds of languages. Can you name some of them? Some cities even have
television stations which speak only Spanish. That’s because they have so many
people there who speak Spanish. When you are older, you may want to study
different languages. Let’s find out where they all came from.

Noah lived 350 years after the flood. He was 950 years old when
he died. Noah’s sons Shem, Ham and Japheth had children of their own. Their
families were the beginning of all families in the world today. As more and more
people were born into the families of Shem, Ham and Japheth, the number of
people on earth increased.

If you had been a father or mother in those times, what would
you have told your children about God? Yes, you probably would have told them
about the great flood. Whenever there was a rainbow, you would have reminded
them of God’s promise that the world would never again be covered by water.

We know that many parents did hand down a knowledge of the great
flood to their children. We have stories from countries in Noah’s part of the
world which show this.

This should have helped people in later years know God. They
should have realized Someone who could bring such a great flood was a God of
power. They should have feared Him and have wanted to give Him honor. But
something happened that shows how easily people forget God and His way for them.

Up until that time everyone spoke the same language. They seemed
to stay together in a group. The Bible tells us they came to a plain called
Shinar and decided to build a city.

They said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower
whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be
scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” Since they knew how to make
brick and use slime for mortar, they thought nothing could stop them.

The Bible does not tell us a lot about this city and tower, but
we know the people wanted it for the wrong reason - - they were trying to be
important in their own sight instead of trusting God for what is best. The Bible
says that God did not like what was happening. He decided to do something that
would stop their building.

God said, “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their
language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”

The Bible says that God scattered them abroad from there over
the face of all the earth. The City and tower that were supposed to reach up to
heaven were never finished. After all, how could people work together when they
were speaking different language? They surely could not help each other if they
couldn’t understand what they were saying. They named the city Babel, because
there was such a confusion of speech there.

This should be a lesson to us about deciding what we will do
without God’s help. He is always ready to help us in things that He plans for us
to do. But when we strike out on our own, we will have to depend on ourselves
alone. We need to plan things to fit into God’s purpose for us. Then we can
always trust in Him to help.

TALKING IT OVER

1. We learned that temptation can come through our pride - -
thinking we are important. How did Babel show this? How about today?
2. Teachers may use in “Value Clarification” skits to say there is no definite
right and wrong. Contrast this with the Bible.
3. Can man be blessed long without God? Why not?

CreditsText by Betty Belue Haynes, originally published in Bible Talk Times.
Used here with the kind permission of the author. Users are free to reproduce
for use, but not for publication.